Barcelona 2020/21 Season Preview: Strengths, Weaknesses, Key Man & Prediction
By George Cannon
It's been a turbulent few months at Barcelona. After an 8-2 loss, the sacking of the manager, the sporting director being relieved of his duties and the best player to have ever graced the Camp Nou doing everything he could to get away, it's been easy to forget there is a new season just around the corner to prepare for.
Former Southampton and Everton manager Ronald Koeman was the 'lucky' man chosen to replace the hapless Quique Setien, and to say he has a rebuilding job on his hands would be an understatement. The Dutchman has inherited an ageing squad whose best players have seen their peak years come and go and is tasked with transforming the Blaugrana's fortunes on a rather modest budget.
Lionel Messi looks set to stay in the Catalan capital for another year which is a major boost to Koeman and co. but with the likes of Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal set to follow Ivan Rakitic out of the exit door, it will be a crucial few weeks for Barca if they even want to stand a chance of wrestling their title back off Real Madrid.
Strengths
While it may be one of the weakest Barcelona sides on paper for a generation, they do still boast a handful of world class players. Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen is in his prime years and is widely regarded as one of the best between the sticks, and even though Messi is 33 he's still arguably the best in the world.
Throw in a rejuvenated Philippe Coutinho, the fact that Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong have had a year to get accustomed to their surroundings, the possibility for Ousmane Dembélé recovering from injury and the young promising stars of Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig, and things don't look so bad. Not for the optimists among us anyway.
Weaknesses
It feels extremely harsh, especially after all they have won for the club, but the likes of Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique are probably 'weaknesses' for Barca at this point.
The Spanish pair are now 32 and 33 respectively, and with the lack of youthful energetic legs around them their loss of a yard or two has been exposed at times. That was all too evident on that fateful night in Lisbon when Bayern Munich brutally exploited every one of Barca's weaknesses over and over again.
Jordi Alba, Vidal, Suarez, Messi, Neto and new signing Miralem Pjanić complete the list for players who are at least 30 years old and it's a serious issue that Koeman needs to address.
Key Man
Who else but Lionel Messi? The diminutive Argentine still bagged an impressive 31 goals in all competitions last season and provided an incredible 26 assists for his teammates.
He was La Liga's top scorer in 2019/20 and without him, who knows where Barca would have finished. They certainly would've been a lot further than just five points behind eventual champions Real Madrid, that's for sure.
Keeping him for what looks likely to be one last hurrah will allow everyone at Barcelona to sleep easier, but their dependence on the little magician is at an all-time high - just when he doesn't even want to be at the club.
Prediction
Trophies are always the barometer of success at Barcelona but sometimes even they aren't enough to keep you in your job, just ask Ernesto Valverde.
Lifting the La Liga title at the end of the season is something that Barca fans have been accustomed to over the last decade or so, along with the Copa Del Rey, but even a domestic double hasn't traditionally been enough to satisfy the club's fans and hierarchy. A sixth Champions League triumph is the real obsession for the club.
That looks out of reach at the moment, and so doe the league title, but that will undoubtedly be the remit Koeman is given. In reality, a second-placed finish, a domestic cup win and a long run in Europe without being utterly humiliated would probably qualify as a job well done. How times have changed...
Prediction: 2nd